Bedford
Cinema History
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What the Council Thought:
The County Council and Bedford's Picture Palaces 1909-1970 - Venues
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From 1909
local authorities
became responsible in law for the licensing of picture playhouses, and in May of
that year Bedfordshire County Council delegated this responsibility to its 'Stage
Plays Licensing Committee'. The expanded remit necessitated a change of
title to 'The
Stage Plays and Cinematograph Licensing Committee'. Apart
from where otherwise noted all the information here is drawn from the minutes of
this committee from 1909 to 1970 when it was dissolved*. See also
The Sunday...Issue
and Children in Cinemas.
Venues
The first licences to exhibit cinematograph performances in Bedford town were granted in March 1910 to Blake Brothers for the Association Hall in Silver Street, E. Graham Falcon for The Royal County Theatre in Midland Road and Chetham, Sons and Biffin for the building in Bridge Boat Yard near the town bridge. Safety was a consistent cause for concern for the Stage Plays and Cinematograph Licensing Committee and from 1914 the minutes record debate on items such as the use of movable seats and the blocking up of the gangways (1914); the wording of letters to licence holders to insist on gangways being kept clear and no-one being allowed to sit or stand in them (1919); the restatement that under no consideration will standing be allowed in any gangway (1930).
Association Hall, March to April 1910
This was a short-lived venue for the Blake Brothers because the licence was revoked at the end of April 1910 following a damning report by the County Surveyor.
Blakes Pictures at the Picturedrome 1910 - 1912
From May 1910 Chetham, Sons and Biffen allowed the Blake Brothers to operate from their boat yard building, now re-named the Picturedrome. This arrangement continued until the Blakes moved into their own premises with their own cinematograph licence.
When Percy Felce and others opened the Palace Cinema on 6th April 1912, the Blakes countered the opposition with aggressive programming and marketing. On Friday 5th April, the day before the grand opening of the Palace, the Blakes exhibited a newsreel of the Grand National and advertised a matinee programme at 3.00 p.m. the following day – at just the time of their competitor’s grand opening. The following Friday the Bedfordshire Mercury published the Blakes’ advertisement that addressed the claims of the Palace: “Sooner or later you want the best entertainment there is in Motion Pictures in Bedford and instinctively turn to Blakes Pictures as your ultimate choice. This week it is to see the legend of St. George and the Dragon – what better subject for the family young or old – needless to say like all their pictures, it is in good taste and free from objectionable features”. According to The Bedfordshire Mercury of Friday 19th April 1912, “Messrs. Blake Brothers are also to be congratulated on a picture showing the ill-fated Titanic at Southampton, prior to her departure … [and] anxious crowds in front of the White Star offices in Cockspur Street”.
The Empire 1912 – 1969
The Blake brothers opened their own cinema, The Empire in Midland Road on 27th May 1912. They seem to have followed the letter and the spirit of the conditions of their cinematograph licence, and entered into a close association with the Licensing Committee. They sought the necessary permissions, abided by the rules and never gave cause for concern. In February 1918 the Blakes were the first of Bedford’s cinema proprietors to apply for permission to exhibit a potentially contentious film. Where Are my Children? dealt with birth control and abortion, and although it had been sponsored on its launch by the National Council of Public Morals, its subject matter still had the power to offend. Permission was granted provided that no children were present and that Committee members were invited to the first afternoon performance of the film.
Although the 1909 Cinematograph Act permitted Sunday exhibitions, Bedfordshire rescinded this in 1914 when they banned cinematograph performances on Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day. However, the Blake Brothers successfully sought permission to present a programme of films for an audience of soldiers only on Christmas Day 1917. The next year they were allowed to open their doors on Sunday 28th July 1918 under the direction of the Ministry of National Service. Warriors’ Day took place on Sunday 3rd April 1921, and the Empire Cinema was allowed to host the event on behalf of the Officers’ Association showing a film programme between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Six years later, in 1927, Mr. William Blake was permitted to exhibit ‘instructional training films’ at 9.30 a.m. on Sunday 12th June to the men attending the Territorial Training Camp. Later, when the Bedfordshire Licensing Authority finally bowed to the pressure of the times in 1940 and allowed regular Sunday performances, the Empire was ready for this change in policy.
The Empire was given permission on an annual basis to show Children’s exhibitions from 1930, and to open on Sundays from 1940 - with a brief but successfully contested closure from June to November 1942.
The Blake Brothers kept up with changing technology and in early 1930 applied to the Licensing Committee for permission to install a sound system for ‘talkies’. Later, in 1958 they changed to projectomatic automatic projection equipment and the following year they added a new rewinding machine for the projection room for use with non-inflammable film stock.
In 1962 the Blakes replaced the projector lanterns and rectifiers, and three years later replaced not only the projectors but also the sound system. Alterations and additions were made to the stage area in 1964 to improve the facilities for the stage shows that were a feature of this decade. The Empire was sold to the proprietors of the Granada in 1969.
The Picturedrome 1910 - 1964
Owned by Chetham, Sons and Biffen, this picturehouse caused regular problems for the Licensing Authority over the presence of standing patrons. At first the issue was raised in a general, county-wide way but clearly by 1930 the owners had taken no decisive action and were named and shamed. Even 19 years later they were still contravening these regulations, and were told they must paint a line down the west and east gangways along the line of the wall. Single lines of 15 people in the west and 10 people in the east gangway were to be permitted. However, after modifications to the projection and re-wind room in 1953, standing was again outlawed – only for the issue to be re-addressed in 1954 when the seating capacity was reduced from 584 to 566 and the owners requested standing room again.
In May 1928 Mrs. Chetham sought permission to screen Dawn, a film not passed by the British Board of Film Censors because the portrayal of the death of the British nurse Edith Cavell by Germans during the First World War might be offensive to German sensitivities. Her request came in the wake of a fierce publicity battle by the film-makers, and even after the Committee had viewed the film they voted to refer the decision to the full Council. In the end, permission was denied and the film was not shown in Bedford.
As far as possible the proprietors tended not to involve the Stage Plays and Cinematograph Licensing Committee, unlike the Blake Brothers at the Empire, so the announcement that they would be exhibiting the first ‘talkie’ in Bedford was made through the press. The advertisement in The Bedfordshire Times and Independent on 27th December 1929 let readers know that ‘The Talkie Season Opens [on] Monday, Dec. 30th with The Fox Movietone Follies [with] Times and prices as usual’. The review in the same paper on 3rd January 1930 added an extra insight: “It seems hardly correct to write that the talkies were heard in Bedford for the first time last week, for years ago a regular feature of the programme at the Picturedrome was an item or items by the Vivaphone. A vocalist would appear on the screen and as he sang the sound was transmitted by a gramophone behind the screen. Sometimes the singer and the gramophone failed to synchronize and this usually brought down the house.”
This uneasy relationship with the Licensing Authority was exemplified through the longstanding association of Mr. J. Chetham with the deputation from the South Midlands Branch of the Cinematograph Exhibitors Association that annually argued the case against the financial burden of the Sunday performances levy. The Picturedrome, along with the other three Bedford town cinemas was licensed for Sunday exhibitions from 1940 apart from June – November 1942.
The Licensing Committee required that all “A” and “X” films be submitted to them in advance of exhibition for their permission, but in 1954 the owners of the Picturedrome were forced to apologise for the unauthorised screening of two “X” films.The cinema hosted the showing of “X” rated Italian films on Sundays from 1959, but lost this permission in 1962 because they had again shown unauthorised films.
The Castle Rink (later the Plaza, then the Century) 1929 - 1974
Although Mr. Laurence Taylor was granted an annual cinematographic licence in 1910, no further action was taken to develop the premises into a cinema until 1928 when Mr. Robert Chetham applied for a licence. The Plaza as with the other three Bedford town cinemas was licensed for Sunday exhibitions from 1940 – except for the period from June – November 1942.
Apart from an issue in 1950 when the owners were required to remove two seats in the gangway, relations with the Licensing Authority were smooth until 1967 when the proprietors nearly lost their licence. It seems that the management was unable to prevent people getting into the auditorium illicitly through an exit door being opened by a friend already inside the auditorium. Permission to lock this particular door resolved the problem.
The Plaza was sold to the owners of the Granada in Spring 1969 and re-launched in the Autumn as the Century. The new owners inaugurated Saturday 'Midnight Matinees' from 11 p.m. to 2.30 a.m. on Sunday morning.
The Palace 1912 - 1936
Mr. Percy E. Felce applied for a cinematographic licence in 1911 for the Palace which was to be erected on the site of the Chequers Inn on the corner of The High Street and Silver Street and was finally successful in April 1912. This picturehouse, managed at its inception by Mr. A. C. Clements, opened at 3pm on Saturday 6th April 1912 and the advertisement in the Bedfordshire Mercury the day before boasted of a “luxurious, comfortable and up-to-date Picture Playhouse” offering “a continuous performance … from 2.30 daily” when “only the latest and best films from all parts of the world will be presented”. A “Special Matinee” would take place on Wednesdays at 2.30 p.m. Admission prices were 3d., 6d., and 1s.
On 22nd April 1912 the Palace drew a “large and fashionable audience” according to the Bedfordshire Mercury of 26th April to “a special matinee … in aid of the Bedford Mayor’s fund for the widows and orphans of the Titanic disaster”.
The last record of the Palace in the Minutes of the Licensing Authority is dated May 1916, and concerns the height of the rise of new emergency exit steps. It seems that the proprietors just went calmly about their business for the next twenty years without reference to the Committee.
The Royal County Theatre, Midland Road
Although Mr. E. Graham Falcon showed an interest in the potential of a picturehouse in 1910 when he was granted a cinematographic licence, he seems to have taken no further action.
The Royal Engineers’ Building, Goldington Road
In July 1919 Captain John C. Dalton was granted a cinematographic licence provided that the audience did not assemble in the space between the operating box and the screen, that all seats be battened and that the back doors be marked out as the emergency exit. There is no further reference to this licensee in the records of the Licensing Authority.
Picture Theatre, Mill Street
A licence was granted in 1920 for a new building proposed for Mill Street, but no further reference is made in the records of the Licensing Authority.
Bedford School
In 1924 Mr. Reginald Carter was given a licence for the School Hall on condition that no boys were allowed in the gallery where the projecting apparatus was placed during the time of any exhibition. In 1936 the Master in charge of entertainments successfully applied for permission to show “A” films, but was sternly reminded of the regulations regarding the presence of children under 16 years of age. The licence was revoked in 1937 pending an electrical inspection, and was not reinstated until 1948.
The Granada 1934 – 1990
The Granada like the other three Bedford town cinemas was licensed for Sunday exhibitions from 1940 – with a brief and successfully contested closure from June – November 1942. It was also licensed to show children’s exhibitions.
In 1954 the Granada was the first of Bedford’s cinemas to install a wide screen to show the new Cinemascope films and opened with The Robe starring Richard Burton and Jean Simmons. At the same time the owners put a sound system in the foyer to enhance the experience of the patrons. A licensed restaurant followed and although plans to incorporate a casino in the restaurant were unsuccessful in 1967, the owners offset this disappointment by setting up two amusement machines in the circle foyer and two on the ground floor. Advances in projection technology saw the Granada install 70mm equipment in 1968, and use it for the first time to screen Dr. Doolittle on 28th July of that year.
In 1956, the Committee minutes mention that the proprietors put on a display of matchbox labels telling the story of cinematography and this became the first of three exhibitions in the foyer: vintage cars and bicycles (1969) and a mini-car (1969).
When stage acts made a return to cinema stages in the 1950s, the Granada constructed an artistes’ quick change room adjoining the stage.
The Civic Theatre 1956 – 2012
The Town Clerk was granted a cinematograph licence annually for this venue from 1956.
* Powers passed to the Local Government Committee (re: censorship of films) and to the Fire and Emergency Services Committee (re. the buildings) until local government reorganisation in 1974.
© Fran Kemp 2013
Sources
- Minutes of the Bedfordshire County Council Stage Plays and Cinematograph Licensing Committee 1909 – 1970 held at the Bedfordshire Archives andRecords Service (BARS), Ref. SPM 1-7.
- See also The Sunday...Issue and Children in Cinemas.
Page last updated: 25th February 2014